“We condemn attempts to label us as ‘victims,’ a term which implies defeat, and we are only occasionally ‘patients,’ a term which implies passivity, helplessness, and dependence upon the care of others. We are ‘People With AIDS.’”—Denver Principles, 1983

People with AIDS group, Denver, 1983

In 1981, a new disease appeared in the United States. As it spread, fear and confusion pervaded the country. The infectious “rare cancer” bewildered researchers and bred suspicion, but the worry was not the same for everyone.…

Gay men and lesbians were the first to respond to the growing AIDS epidemic of the early 1980s, providing care for and information to those who desperately needed it. Working to counter inaction by governmental entities, activists insisted…

Marked up page from “The 25 Most Intriguing People of ‘87,” People, December 28, 1987

During the mid-1980s, public health officials and scientists struggled to understand AIDS. They undertook fledgling research on shoestring budgets, conducting two distinct yet related investigations that emerged in a swirl of scientific…

The United States government remained largely silent in the face of the AIDS crisis. Elected leaders avoided the issue. Funding requests for research and patient care went unfulfilled. Fear and misinformation permeated communications. Officials blamed…

Protestors in front of the James A. Shannon Building, National Institutes of Health, 1990

By 1987, more than 46,000 Americans had become infected with HIV and more than 13,000 had died from AIDS. In response to this devastation, a new movement emerged led by people with AIDS: the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). They fought…

“Ask for the Test” poster, District of Columbia Department of Health, 2012

The challenges posed by AIDS today are complex. Treatments exist but are not uniformly available. Debates persist about what prevention strategies are politically acceptable. People with AIDS and their advocates have made lasting changes…